Appliance for darning and repairing fabrics by hand



April 18, 1950 E. CHESSTOK ET AL 2,504,302

APPLIANCE F OR DARNING AND REPAIRING FABRICS BY HAND Filed March 6, 1947 \NVENT'ORS EDGAR Guess-re Aewue CHESSTOK ATTOQN EYS.

Patented Apr. 18, 1950 UNITED STATES TENT Edgar Chesstok and Arthur Chesstok, London, England Application March 6, 1947, Serial No. 732,756

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to an appliance for darning and repairing fabrics by hand and has for its object to provide an improved appliance for this purpose which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

A further object of the invention is to provide an appliance for the purpose referred to which is easy and simple to operate in a uniform manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide an appliance which is particularly designed to eliminate completely any damage to the fabric being repaired which may be brought about by a sharp edge on the appliance being pressed against the fabric to hold the latter in position against a work support.

With the foregoing objects in view the present invention provides an appliance for darning and repairing fabrics which comprises a plurality of oscillatable rods, means for supporting the rods, means for imparting oscillation to said rods, hooks on the ends of said rods adapted to have looped thereover the thread for the darn, movement of said hooks effecting movement of the loops or threads thereon, and a gripping flange adapted to present a flat face to the fabric and retain the latter against a support for the fabric.

According to one form of the invention there is provided an appliance for darning or repairing fabrics which comprises a main plate, a raised part or platform on said plate, a plurality of oscillatable rods supported on said raised part with ends which overhang said part, hooks formed at the overhanging ends of the rods, cranked portions formed at the other end of the rods, a reciprocatable member formed with teeth between which are accommodated the cranked portions of the rods for imparting oscillation to the latter to move the hooked ends to effect shedding of loops of threads engaged with the hooks, a recess formed in a part of the appliance extending below the level of the hooked ends of the rods and a flange bounding said recess and presenting a flat face for holding the fabric within a groove formed in a support for the fabric.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying sheet of drawings, which illustrates one embodiment of the invention byway of example.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the appliance.

Figure 2 is a transverse section.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the operating member for the hooked rods.

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Figure 4 is a side elevation.

Figures 5 and 6 are plan views which show respectively the alternative positions of the hooked rods and the corresponding directions of manipulation of the needle.

Referring to the drawings the appliance comprises a main plate i, a reciprocatable actuating member 2 and a cover plate 3 for the ends of the hooked rods :3 which are acted upon by the member 2. For ease and cheapness of manufacture these parts are preferably made up as sheet metal stampings but they may be made of other material and otherwise formed if so desired.

The main plate I comprises a platform 5 upon which are supported, for the greater parts of their lengths, a plurality of the hooked rods 4 which are arranged with their outer hooked ends 6 overhanging a part I of the plate I which is contained in a lower plane than the platform 5.

The part 1 is, as shown, formed with an arcuate recess 3 which is bounded by a flange 9 which is bent at right angles to the part I and preferably, although not essentially formed integral with the latter. The fabric to be darned or repaired is stretched over a wood block ID of mushroom shape and which is formed with a circumferential groove ll into which a part of the fabric about the hole to be repaired may be pressed and which is retained therein by the arcuate flange 9 which presents a flat gripping surface to the material. This is very important as the formation of the flange in the manner described avoids any sharp edges being presented to and urged, against the material with possible damage to the latter.

The appliance maybe held in position with respect to the mushroom shaped block I0 by means of stout rubber bands or the equivalent which may be made to embrace a step l2 of the appliance dividing the part I and the platform 5 and the part of the circumferential groove I I in the mushroom shaped block In not engaged by the flange 9.

The rear ends of the hooked rods 4 abut against an upturned flange l3 at the rear of the platform 5 and adjacent to these ends the rods, as shown particularly in Figure 2, are formed with cranked portions M which are accommodated in the spaces between upstanding teeth l5 of the actuating member 2. The cranked portions IA of the hooked rods 4 are located within the cover plate 3 so that they cannot become detached from between the teeth l5 of the actuating member 2 and the latter is arranged with its ends is projecting out of the ends of the cover 3 and said ends are preferably downturned so as not to present sharp edges to the fingers of the user.

It will be appreciated that by reciprocating the actuating member 2 backwards and forwards the cranked portions of the rods 4 are oscillated alternately from side to side and that consequently the hooked ends 6 are first directed one way and then the opposite way.

With the material to be repaired stretched around the mushroom shaped block ID and with the appliance in position as shown in Figure 4, a darning thread I! (see Figure 5) is first anchored to the material, looped over a hook 5, then brought down and tacked to the fabric, again looped over the next hook 6 and so on until the area of the material is traversed by these loops.

By moving the actuating member from side to side the rods are oscillated and the thread is shed in the manner adopted with the warp threads on a loom and the cross or weft threads can then be readily threaded through to complete the darn or repair. Figure 6 shows the hooks 6 directed in the opposite direction to that shown in Figure 5 and with the weft being inserted from the opposite side.

By means of the present invention therefore it will be appreciated that an appliance for hand operation is provided for darning purposes and that with the warp threads initially arranged as shown in Figure 5 the needle may be passed between these warp threads from one side and that the oscillatable hooks 6 serve to reverse the positions of the warp threads when the actuating member 2 is slid ready for the weft thread to be inserted between the warp threads from the other side. Thus there is provided a hand actuated device for darning and other repair work wherein the action of feeding the weft thread under and over the warp threads is automatieally effected without the need for manipulating the needle over and under individual threads.

We claim:

In an apparatus for darning and repairing fabrics, the combination of, a darning device comprising a casing, a plurality of oscillatable rods having one end supported in said casing and the opposite ends provided with hooks to receive the darning thread, means in said casing for oscillating said rods, said casing being supported on an L-shaped member, said member having on the edge of the horizontal part an arcuate collar, and a circular darning block for supporting the fabric to be darned, said block having in its edge a circumferential groove having a Hat arouate base of substantial width, said collar adapted to encircle a substantial arc of said groove and press the fabric against the fiat base of the groove, the opposite side of the groove adapted to receivean elastic member to hold said darning device with its collar in said groove, the vertical reach of said L-shaped member having a height sufficient to elevate the hooked ends of said rods a substantial distance above the crowned surface of said darning block.

EDGAR CHESSTOK'. ARTHUR CHESSTOK.

12 RE ERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,010,112 Barnes Nov. 28, 1911 1,093,628 Johnson Apr. 21, 1914 2,171.,"138 F'riedland Sept. 5, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 476,495 Great Britain Dec. 9, 1937 516,209 Great Britain Dec. 27, 1939 

